Mr. Mills, here’s a unique DH idea for the Astros

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Astros manager Brad Mills’ plans for using the designated hitter this weekend have been a closely kept secret. Either that or he hasn’t actually decided.

But here’s a unique idea that I think has some merit.

The Astros are currently carrying 13 pitchers on the roster. Starters have been consistently going deep into games, meaning the bullpen is well-rested. So, why not send down someone like Wesley Wright or Gustavo Chacin for the next two series against the Yankees and Royals and bring up one of the guys from Round Rock?

If you really think about it, it makes some sense.

How ’bout a little extra speed in your lineup with Jason Bourgeois, who’s on a 17-game hitting streak? He’s hitting .351 with 17 stolen bases. He ranks fourth in the Pacific Coast League with a .355 average. Mills could actually put Bourgeois in the left and use Carlos Lee as the DH if he preferred.

Imagine Bourgeois in the ninth spot just ahead of Michael Bourn. That would be worth a shot, don’t ya think?

Or maybe Chris Johnson? These numbers aren’t shabby: .319 average, .344 OBP and a .915 OPS. Again, either CJ could DH or Pedro Feliz could slide into that role while Chris plays third. Where would you bat CJ? Sixth behind Hunter Pence look pretty good.

Still not convinced? Chris Shelton and Brian Bogusevic have cooled a little, but still have good numbers and could provide options as the DH.

Think it’s a crazy idea? Rather have Cory Sullivan, Jason Michaels or Geoff Blum as your DH? Just think of it as an early September glimpse. After a few days, they go back to Round Rock and continue their grooming.

Bud Norris is due a rehab start on Saturday. If he looks good, he could come back next week and the RR DH is gone. If he needs an extra rehab start, so be it. CJ, Bourgeois, Shelton or Bogusevic might come in handy for a few extra days.

It’s a seven-day experiment, provides some opportunities for a younger player and could also provide an opportunity to get some veterans a break if they need it.

Moehler being on the roster just shows how far the Astros have sunk as an orginization. No reason for him to be taking up a roster spot(and making $3million) that could be used by someone who might actually contribute in the future. Oh and the Pence turn around has abruptly ended. He is 6 for his last 36 and is back to .260. Bourn hasnt been exactly lighting it up these days either, he actually is worse in most categories than last year now. So much for the up and coming outfielders.

I can imagine his excuse for this: “Well, our guys haven’t performed as expected…blah blah blah”.

If Wade is fired, would the situation really improve? Odd as this may sound…I don’t think the team’s hit “rock bottom” yet. Not in Drayton’s eyes, or else he would stop this charade of “competing”. As long as he continues to believe this team can win (no matter how misguided that belief may be), nothing will truly change.

Brian Moehler has quietly gone about his business and put up a 6.32 ERA. He’s just one of several guys who would not be in the big leagues if not for this club being a last place team. So much to love.

Throw strikes. Make plays in the field. I have to consider sending Fulchino down when Sampson’s ready. He can’t throw strikes this season. And God knows whatever happened to Wright? He used to throw nothing but strikes. Now he’s regularly behind in the count, thus getting lit up when he has to come in.

What a joke we have become. There are people on this roster that have no reason being on this team.

If this is Ed Wades vision then I want whatever he is drinking.

There is a reason why he is never present at the park. He would get the Purpura treatment. I think it’s time for us to move on. Ed has done his job in getting the farm headed in the right direction but it’s now time for us to move on.

This is a flat out joke and it’s sad to see Drayton, Tal, and Ed are running this organization into the ground. It’s time to fire Ed and Tal Smith. Please!!!!!!!!!!!!

Off the subject, but Posada just hit his second grand slam in two days ending any thoughts of Houston stealing 1 win in NYC.

Just want to say to Arnsberger and Co., as if you didn’t already know this: You walk other team’s batters, you MIGHT get away with it. You walk Yankees, they’re going to make you pay big time! Walks led to 7 runs Saturday and another 7 today.

Chip, getting back on topic. Through 10 at bats this series our DH`s have produced 2 singles , no runs scored and no runs batted in. Looks a lot like a pitchers hitting line in the box score. I`ll score you one up for your idea. I hope I have to eat crow for saying this during the Game!

[Brentw, I dunno, have you looked at our regular pitcher averages? Paulino is hitting .304 and Wandy .273. Maybe we should just let 'em hit for themselves. CB]

I think Lance is getting a big dose of reality of what Father time can do to you. He has been such a pure consistent hitter over his career and avoided being mired in slumps. Jeff Bagwell always stated that for him it was a constant work in progress but I think Lance was just naturally gifted. He`s lost some bat speed and has to guess the pitch versus see the ball hit the ball. This frustration we are seeing is him flat missing pitches he used to crush. This happens to everyone.Some quicker than others.

Is it time to make those call-ups yet? I doubt management will do it. And when they do they’ll get a wonderful opportunity to sit on the bench, just like last year. Maybe, if we sit the regulars, they’ll get the message (I doubt it). In the last 10 or so games if Q and Manzella don’t have timely hits we could have had another 10+ loosing streak. I wonder why we even postulate on these blogs since the “holy trinity” (McLane, Smith, Wade) have little or no intention of doing much about it. I do give accolades to Q’s effort as as lately. I don’t recall who wrote it but there was an article about Oswalt’s trade request on ESPN. I believe the jest of the article was that Oswalt (agent) went to mgmt and offered himself up so as to acquire future prospects for the team. Somebody from the Mamagement team then “leaked” it denoting that Oswalt demanded a trade so he could play for a winner. In otherwords, the article suggests that Oswalt did the “classy” thing but Astros management did the opposite. Your take on that.

Wandy’s performance metrics this year are his worst since his 2005 rookie season, reversing a 4 year trend of significant annual improvement. I have no explanation other than the baseball streaks and trends (see Zamrano, Carmona, etc). The difference between success and failure, star and has been, is so miniscule among major leaguers that most alternate streaks of triumph with abject failure. We have to hope something turns him back into the Wandy of 2010, but divining what could do that is akin to witchcraft. Did you hex him for causing you to dye your hair purple last year Becky?

Becky, we’re talking about two different things. I won’t argue that Wandy is having a bad season (in fact I inferred that he’s regressed).

But sometimes a line score doesn’t tell the whole story. He wasn’t very good yesterday – 5 walks in 5 innings is never acceptable – but he shouldn’t have even been in a position to surrender 8 earned runs based on what happened that inning.

I`m up early enjoying a cup of strong coffee and off to the early service I go. Plan on doing honey do`s and am stuck with hosting my Mother in Law for a few days. Hopefully the baseball Gods have a win in the works for us. I asked for one game before the series and it is still possible.

So we can add Berkman’s bat-flippings to his arguing with the umpire from yesterday. He went through the zone on his swing and got called on it.

I guess what I’m wondering is this: does there come a point where his behavior is detrimental to his trade chances? Jayson Stark wrote something similar about Oswalt (Chip linked to it in a recent entry), so perhaps other teams will see Berkman in the same light.

Well, I did see Q make a perfect throw to nail Jeter at second trying to steal (1 out) and Kep missed the throw…Q got the error though. Then, Jeter on third, a guy gets a hit to drive him in. Then a walk; another guy hits a perfect DP grounder (2 outs, 3 outs) except Wandy tips it off his mitt and everyone is safe.

THEN Posada hit his opposite fiield grand slam.

So right there five runs are in, no one is out. Should have been out of the inning with no runs given up…and the Astros still leading 2-1.

Yes, Wandy was missing with his curveball, yes, he was getting tagged on occasion, and yes, 2010 Wandy is no 2009 Wandy. But today it could have easily gone very differently – he wasn’t as bad as the box score will make him look.

BTW, Berkman flipped three bats on national television after making feeble outs. He makes Oswalt look happy by comparison. I know Tejada hits into double plays like breathing, but I’d love to know whose trying to keep that clubhouse on a positive note. Losing sucks, but you can’t let it make things even worse. You need to get *angry* that you suck so bad and challenge yourself to *not suck*.

I`m just glad we don`t have Wandy locked in for 3 or 4 years. There`s a saying ” One Robin doesn`t make a spring ” and Wandy`s performance last year simply wasn`t enough affirmation to conclude that he had arrived. Imagine if the arbitrator had ruled in Wandy`s favor. Yeah Ouch ! Let`s say he post something like an 8-18 record or such he won`t really have anything to bring to arbitration. The scary part is the Astros will take this opportunity to get him at a discount (say 3-4 million) and think they accomplished a job well done and still consider him a front of the rotation guy. If Roy goes we will have to acquire an Ace in free agency. If he stays we need a minimum of a Myers type caliber. Wandy might not fit into next year depending on the progress of Norris.

Makes a fine argument for changing the way arbitration is handled, no? This is just one example, but that system is messed up.

I don’t think Wandy’s regression is simply a matter of being overpaid. It would certainly seem that something’s going on behind the scenes. But the fact is that he’s overpaid, and the gut instinct (on my part, at least) is to say that he’s complacent due to already receiving a couple huge paydays.

His performance mystifies me. When he first came up, he wasn’t even good, but he worked hard and steadily improved. And last year, he was great. So for him to come out and stink this much in 2010…it’s just confusing.

Thanks for the confirmation Becky. I was going to schedule an eye appointment for fear my vision and observation was failing me. I mentioned to Chip yesterday that Wandy was my greatest concern. Seems like now that some things are comming together we can`t get a quality game out of him. We can`t continue to play this ” on a year off a year ” game with Wandy. For Pete`s sake he is suppose to be our number two starter. I have said enough!

Fulchino has just, as Lisa would say, “Francoed” Wandy, allowing both his latest walks to score. Wandy has been part of the Astro pitchers’ Murderers’ Row of 2010. Perhaps he has been pitching miffed at being unable to add to his OPS.

Another possibility for DH-ing possibilities is to remember that this team is not built for American League play (not much better for the NL either, as of June 12), and consider giving its fans’ stress levels a break: forfeit all AL games. At least until they can show they can play with the big boys.

With regard to Andy Pettitte leaving the Astros and re-signing with NYY:

Let’s not let Pettitte completely off the hook for his part in leaving. If you recall, Pettitte was being coy and supposedly contemplating whether he wanted to play another year. I think, if I remember correctly, he was waiting for God to tell him, or something like that.

I think he did the same thing the year before. And Clemens behavedly similarly.

I didn’t blame the Astros completely for exploring their options versus waiting for God to advise Pettitte. It was only when the Astros were pursuing Jon Garland that suddenly Andy Pettitte decided he wanted to pitch again and solicited an offer from the Astros who had already moved on and only made a nominal offer that insulted Pettitte.

The strategy may have been justified. But the results– Jason Jennings / Woody Williams instead of Pettitte– were devastating. That’s completely on Tim Purpura and ownership. In retrospect, the Astros should have set aside any hard feelings and made a legit offer.

But I think Pettitte would have left anyway. He likely missed the bright lights and maybe tired of dealing with the some of the added pressures of playing for the hometown. And, maybe, like Hunsicker, Ryan, and now Oswalt, he saw the writing on the wall and got out while the getting out was good.

Chip, I would not be averse to giving Bougeous a shot if only to see if by some quirk, he is a late bloomer and not just another can’t hit the curve ball triple a player.

However I would not send Gus back down for anything. This guy is a real find and unless he just sudenly implodes, which I don’t think he will, he could be a mainstay in our bullpen for some time. You can send Wright down. He doesn’t even belong here in the first place.

All that said, barring injury, I don’t see manahement bringing up anyone. They have already said they have the players to win. That would include Feliz, Michaels and Sullivan.

There is no way the Astros would follow your ridiculous ideas when they have the chance to give more at-bats to the screamingly hot Michaels, Sullivan or Cash. I mean you add Michaels & Sully’s BA’s together and they do beat Bourgeois’ average by more than ten points.

Mills is allowed to think outside the box – as long as his ideas do not cause the front office to think outside the box.

Any ways Chip you are the man as usual and Bill Holmes another great comment about the totally washed up Pettitte. No reason to pay him when we could use that kind of cash on KazMat and Hampton and Ortiz and …. you get the idea.

Cash wasn’t picked up for his hitting ability, since he obviously doesn’t have much.

You assert that Michaels is in decline. Whether he is or isn’t, wouldn’t you agree that it’s on him for being in decline? I just can’t reconcile absolving someone of their personal responsibility, especially when that person is getting paid so much money to perform at a certain level. So obviously, it bothers me more that he’s NOT meeting that level and is still receiving his money.

If that doesn’t sway you, I’ll just agree to disagree. I’ve probably said enough as it is.

I was trying to figure out why Q was not catching against a lefty. Why would a right-handed batter be that bad against lefties? Maybe not enough opportunities? I’d put him in there every game except for the occasional breather until Castro is ready.

Castro, by the way, has recovered quite nicely at RR and is almost at .300. I wish the stats showed his caught-stealing % at milb.com for this year.

Andrew your obviously sports savvy and often provide interesting insight however, I`ll split hairs with you on who should take responsibility. Jason Michaels has been in decline for three or four years and Cash has a .176 career average. Guess what they are performing as advertised. So having all the data why did we sign them knowing this wouldn`t get it done. I will give it to you on Sullivan. He is not performing up to his track record and should take or share responsibility.

i agree to an extent…i don’t think wade has the ability to do his job as drayton’s hand is way too heavy..but even so, if you have to play michaels then put him in left and lee at dh, lee is hitting well lately but his only true position is dh, he should have played there all 7 games on this trip

The players you named share the blame with Wade. Wade signed them (for better or worse). The players are paid to produce. When they don’t produce, you can’t absolve them of responsibility by blaming the GM.

Michaels and Sullivan don’t really provide anything if they’re not hitting. At least Cash has some cache as a defensive catcher and game-caller (in other words, “intangibles”).

I guess Myers was the odd man out. Either that or he doesn’t like Quintero all that much. So he gets Cash instead. I figured it would be Oswalt, since he and Quintero didn’t seem to get along. Then again….

Great idea Chip – I’m jealous that I didn’t think of it myself. You are the man.

Bogu is on the 40-man, so why not? Let him play OF in place of Carlos…even Ramirez would be a better defensive guy.

But instead Lee is in the field when it’s the PERFECT opportunity to DH him). The tail end of our lineup looks feeble, although Manzella ripped a nice double. Michaels is DHing; would a callup really hit much worse?

Bourn has 3 Ks so far and looks lost and half the lineup is popping out (I wanted to throw a beer through the TV when Lee popped out on a 3-0 pitch).

Hope Drayton is enjoying how “washed up” and “tired” Andy is five years after jerking his chain.

Astrofan1 I share your pain only I would direct my frustration at the front office and not at Mills. He only plays the hand he`s dealt and brother it aint pretty. Cash, Michaels and Sullivan are Mr. Wades responsibility.

Chip with the steady impressive work by Bourn and Keepinger,the big three showing signs of coming around and timely contributions from Feliz, Manzella and Quintero we look like we could sustain a run. I would like to see an improved bat off the bench. My biggest concern is Wandy. Seems like everyone else in the rotation is performing to expectations. If Wandy can stack three or four consistent quality games together and the back of our bullpen continue being reliable I see your scenario of sniffing .500 by all-star break. We are held hostage to a bunch of iffs.

Bourgeois is not on the 40 man roster. So, it would require cutting someone to bring him up. That isn’t happening. Chris Johnson and Bogusevic are on the 40 man roster; so either of them could be called up. Presumably Wesley Wright could be sent down. The risk, though, is that Moehler will blow up early in a game and require the use of the bigger bullpen.

can we send Carlos Lee down to the minors for a while and bring Bourgeouis up in his place? While we are at it, let’s release Feliz and let Johnson be our full time 3rd basemen. Time to see if some of these guys will sink or swim.

Well, while I like and agree with the sentiment, We’d be burning up an option for a short term stint. Couldn’t this come back to bite us later? I’d rather that each trip up result in some playing time. Maybe I’m not clear on how the option thing works.

Won’t happen. Drayton will have to buy a couple of airline tickets to and from New York, and what with baggage fees, peak period fees, food fees, security fees, fuel surcharges, and taxi fares to and from LaGuardia, the poor guy simply can’;t afford it. Oh wait..yes he can. But it still won’t happen because ot makes too much sense and might offend the delicate sensibilities of such stalwarts as J-Mike, Sullivan, and Blum whose leadership and talents have lifted us to 5th place.

If he does, I hope somebody kicks him out. Sounds like a job for Paulino; full-time horse, part-time bouncer!

I’m not sure how Mills can justify wanting the bench players to get AB’s. I know why he’s saying it, but that doesn’t mean it makes any sense. He seems like a smart guy (most of the time), so he must be aware of the fact that nobody on his bench has an OPS over .600

Since Bourgeois is not on the 40-man roster, I cannot fathom the Astros designating a 40-man minor leaguer for assignment or outright releasing a major leaguer (Sullivan would be the obvious choice, but Millsy likes Sully too much) to clear a spot for a minor league journeyman to play a few games of the next 9 of 15 scheduled for DH rules (an extended-stay Bourgeois promotion would make more sense in September). Plus, there is another obvious designation or release on the immediate horizon when Castro is promoted, and I suspect the Astros will opt to wait to clear a spot on the 40-man roster until then. Absolutely, based on Mills’ short track record here, we’re going to get stuck with bonus ABs by the likes of Sullivan, Blum, and Michaels and, yes, the Astros will get outscored mightily along the way. Mills hasn’t had his epiphany yet where he realizes that while getting veteran bench players ABs may be important for a contender such as Boston, doing so has little value for bottom-dwellers such as Houston (outside of resting regulars). Namely, veteran bench players are cogs in the wheel of a contender, but serve as roster fillers on a clunker like our club that simply occupy bench spots so that prospects can play everyday in the minors. It’s almost a complete waste of time to argue that Johnson should be up and DHing, since he should already be up and starting at 3b on an everyday basis.

Great idea Chip. I lean towards Johnson being that he is already on the 40 man roster and the Astros have already burned an option on him.

Yesterday’s win was nice but as the game almost got away, it left me second guessing Mills on a number of fronts:

1.Whether or not he spoke with Roy before taking him out yesterday. He had only thrown 96 pitches. It seemed a bit early to take him out.

2. Also, why Lopez in the 8th as much as he has pitched lately when 3 of the first 4 hitters in that inning were lefties. Couldn’t have Chacin been brought in from the beginning to face these lefties especially with a 3 run lead?

3. Finally, Lindstrom didn’t pitch Wednesday and was “rested” again on Thursday in a save situation. I wonder if Lindstrom is nursing an injury and the Astros are hiding it.

Love the Bourgeois idea. They should do it, but they won’t. No thinking outside the box in this front office. Generally, that is.

Hey, I’m usually the one with the crazy ideas. But this is a good one. And while on the subject of Bourgeois, I couldn’t help thinking when the Astros passed on some pretty good players in the first round and took Delino DeShields, were they drafting a Bourgeois clone? Just wondering. Hopefully, DeShields projects to have more upside, but I’d sure like to get Bourgeois up and see what he can do.

Chip’s idea is outrageously good, Astros brass. Get the bench guys some ABs vs. Yankees. Then do it for the KC series. Please.

I like the idea if it gives them a chance to look at a player who would potentially be getting MLB playing time next month and on. However, pinch hitting is a tough job because you walk up to the plate cold, it may have been awhile since you last saw live pitching, and the situations and pressure vary. I’d rather see our bench players start at DH.

I like the idea. I’d like to see it treated as a 6 game tryout for Johnson to play 3rd everyday. I just don’t want to see someone brought up, play well enough everyday that we think they can contribute, and then be sent back down

I like your idea Chip. Given the scenario you laid out I would rather see Bogusevic or Johnson over the other guys as they would get everyday at bats against big league pitching. Most will go with Johnson but I would like to see Bogusevic get a few big league at bats assuming he goes back down regardless of performance. I know that Burgeouis will be called up before him in the event of an injury to one of the starters but given your scenario I think it would be a good chance to give Bogusevic a glimpse of big league pitching.

My choice is Brian Bogusevic. He’s older than me, so I doubt his status as “prospect”, but the other options don’t sway me. Wright should be sent down anyway; having 13 guys in the bullpen isn’t smart.

If I had to guess, I would say that Carlos Lee will be doing the majority of the DH’ing, with Jason Michaels or Cory Sullivan taking his place in LF. Maybe Berkman will get a day at DH and Blum will take 1B. This is one time I expect Mills to not do anything crazy/out of the ordinary.

I like it too. I’ve been saying that’s what they should have done when Norris went down. Bring up when of the boys from RR or CC for a little taste of the bigs. Couldn’t have been any worse than that first start Norris missed.

Chip, Sounds like a grand plan but your the fans choice. Mills appears to be too sensitive to the clubhouse chemistry and team politics to do this. Maybe as time goes by and he gets his legs under him with this team he would entertain this because I think he has a creative baseball mine but not now. This would have to be an Ed Wade mandate. We will be seeing Blum, Michaels or Sullivan in this DH role. Heck just this past Sunday Mills sat Bourn because he said he needed to get Michaels some more at bats. Good thinking Chip what we are all trying to do here is build a shyscraper with an erector set.

Great idea, Chip. I am going to join in the Bourgeois chorus and like hitting him ninth. I wouldn’t touch Keppinger in the two hole. He is doing a great job there. I watch almost every game on tv and he is so good there in ways numbers don’t begin to tell.

Heck, while we’re at it, maybe we can go to the commish and ask for a one week rule change to allow a pinch runner for Lee also, to start at home and run it out. Then we won’t have to see the Lee “trot” to first.

But any of your options would work in my book as you help the hitting and reward your minor leaguers for a job well done.